


New Year, New Life.

by have-a-little-laith (LWritesx)



Series: Brighter Than The Stars [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), But they mainly dabble in fruit and vegetable production, Cuban Lance (Voltron), Developing Relationship, F/M, Female Pronouns for Pidge | Katie Holt, Fluff, Friendship/Love, Gen, Happy Ending, Japanese Shiro (Voltron), Korean Keith (Voltron), Late Night Writing, M/M, Mama McClain knows what's up, New Year's Fluff, Self-Indulgent, The Author Regrets Nothing, The McClains own a farm btw, There are happy endings everywhere, Tooth-Rotting Fluff, friendship/family, lance spends new years and old years with his family, so does the gang, so much fluff and feels, somebody stop me
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-27
Updated: 2018-01-27
Packaged: 2019-02-22 19:51:16
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,425
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13174002
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LWritesx/pseuds/have-a-little-laith
Summary: another human au in which the VLD crew spends the New Year's weekend with Lance's family.ormy apology one shot for not posting anything for a while.EDIT AS OF 21/07/18: This work was published in January, way before certain things about Shiro were revealed at SDCC. It is not my intention to niether offend nor invalidate *anyone*, so therefore, I feel it wise to include the fact that this work contains Shallura as a ship. Please don't read this fic if you know you'll have issues with this pairing.





	New Year, New Life.

**Author's Note:**

> hey guys! So, hope ya'll had a spectacular holiday season and an even better 2018! What better way to kick off the new year by posting another oneshot, am i right? Anyways, this one is to make up for the sore lack of updates through the vacation (A levels are killer, man) and I hope it's enjoyed <3
> 
> real paladins= referred to only by name
> 
> au paladins= referred to as au ___
> 
> Also note that I only know basic Spanish and Google translate isn't very reliable, so y'all feel free to correct me and here is the basic run down of the mcclains:
> 
> Jeremy McClain - Lance's dad, age 46
> 
> Elena Martinez-McClain - Lance's mom, age 45
> 
> Leo McClain - eldest McClain child, age 27
> 
> Natalia Santiago-McClain - Leo's wife, age 27
> 
> Nicolas (Nico) McClain- Lance's nephew, age 3
> 
> Maria McClain- Lance's niece, age 5
> 
> Sofìa McClain- Lance's niece, age 3 months
> 
> Allura McClain- Lance's older sister, age 24 (one year younger than Shiro) 
> 
> Lance McClain- age 22, middle child
> 
> Jaime McClain- Lance's younger brother age 17 
> 
> Camila and Isabella McClain- twins, youngest, age 15
> 
> Theresa Martinez - Lance's youngest aunt, aged 33
> 
> Zaphrina Rosales-Martinez- Lance's aunt, aged 35
> 
> Susanna Martinez- Lance's aunt, Zaphrina's wife, aged 35.
> 
> **NOT BETA'ED OR EDITED, PLEASE EXCUSE ANY ERRORS**

But I stay when you're lost, and I'm scared, 

And you're turning away. 

I want your midnights, 

But I'll be cleaning up bottles with you on New Year's Day. 

Hold on to the memories, they will hold on to you, 

And I will hold on to you. 

\- New Year's Day, _Taylor Swift_.

 

 **When Keith felt his feet firmly plant**  into solid ground, he knew it was safe to open his instinctively closed eyes. Lance appeared next to him, groaning.

When Lance's feet touched the ground, however, he doubled over and pinched the bridge of his nose. 

"I hate this," he moaned. 

"Are you alright?" Keith asked, eyeing him warily. Lance was on his own if he passed out. 

"I'm fine," Lance snapped, "I just need a second to get my bearings."

Ok, Keith lied, Lance wasn't on his own if he passed out. Lance's bronze skin had paled, his breathing became laboured. Keith walked closer to him.

"Can I.. help somehow?" Keith asked cautiously, knowing that him and Lance were nothing close to friends.

"I feel nauseous," Lance admitted, breathing heavily.

Keith put his thumb on Lance's back, hesitantly and rubbed soothing circles there, like Shiro often did for him. Lance's breaths slowly evened out under Keith's fingers. 

Allura appeared next to them, and like a startled cat, Keith jumped away from Lance. Allura's white eyebrows knotted together as she looked at Lance, who straightened up slowly. 

"Are you boys okay?" she asked, curiosity written all over her face.

"Just fine," Lance said, gritting his teeth in, _wait_ , was that _annoyance_?

 _Was it directed at him, or at Allura?_ Keith asked himself, waiting for the other Paladins.

Shiro appeared after, a tiny figure in his arms. This was Pidge, Keith realized, and Shiro was holding her to make sure she didn't fall, to make sure that his body took most of the impact when reality-jumping.

Hunk appeared last, still star-struck from the previous reality they had seen. His reality with Shay. 

Keith, along with the other Paladins, took in their surroundings. 

They were on what seemed to be a semi-deserted road. Fresh air surrounded them. There was a house that was a three stories tall, he assumed it was a farm, judging by its exterior. There was a garage next to the house, and wide cobblestone pathway leading to both the front door and garage. 

Next to him, Lance inhaled sharply.

They all jumped back as a silver Camry pulled into the pathway and parked in front of the garage.

The driver's door opened and a young man, about twenty-two stepped out. He was wearing black jeans, a plain white t-shirt under a plaid blue button-down. A pair of dark sunglasses covered his eyes, thick brown curls falling over his forehead onto his beautiful bronze skin, and he wore a pair of blue converse high-tops. 

The passenger's door opened and another man stepped out. He had ink black hair, styled into a barely-there mullet, violet-grey eyes and pale skin. He was wearing black jeans, too, black boots, a grey v-neck, and was almost drowning in a black leather jacket. When the door shut, he yawned and stretched, like a lazy cat, curling himself deeper into the jacket, which now that Keith had a chance to observe, looked like it belonged to the au Lance, judging by the length. 

On the other side of the car, the man....older alternate Lance, Keith realized, laughed softly at an older Keith. The hair and eyes were a dead giveaway of his identity.

When the back doors opened, au Shiro and Hunk stepped out, followed by.. Holy crow, was that _Pidge?_

She had wavy, waist length, light brown hair and almond shaped, topaz eyes. She wore a short lavender dress with a matching headband, and a delicate string of pearls around her neck and a single pearl on each ear. Purple heels completed her look. God, she looked  _so_ pretty, not that she wasn't now, but jeez, long hair suited her.

Alternate Hunk wore black jeans, yellow shoes and beanie, together with a plaid green and yellow button-up and black glasses. 

Alternate Shiro, on the other hand, wore a large, black hoodie with 'Garrison University' printed on the front under a school monogram, deep blue jeans and black boots, much like Keith's, and dyed-white bangs, contrasting his black hair. He wore ear cuffs, and if you looked close enough, you could see the ink markings on his hand that disappeared under his sleeve. He looked badass. 

Each Paladin stared in awe at their alternate selves. They looked burden free, so full of happiness and ignorance, and in that moment, Keith truly envied himself for the first time. 

Au Lance went to the trunk of the car and opened it, Shiro and Hunk helping them haul out suitcases. As if on cue, as soon as the trunk closed shut (and the car visibly became _wayyy_ lighter), the front door opened. 

_"Mijo!"_

The excited cry came from a small woman. Keith felt his own jaw drop at the sight of her as she came into view.

She was stunning. Her barely-wrinkled skin was a lovely shade of mocha brown, and she seemed to glow in the sun. Her long, loose brown hair fell in curls down her back, grey streaking several strands. She wore them proudly, gracefully, and she held her head high. Her features were delicately shaped, and she had the most hypnotizing brown eyes Keith had ever seen. If he had to guess, she was around forty-four or so.

A small gasp disrupted his train of thought, and both Lance's said the same thing in unison. 

Except, whereas one was an utterly broken, longing, half gasp, the other was an excited exclamation, full of happiness. 

_"Mamá!"_

"Welcome home, _mijo!_ Keith!" The tiny woman, au Lance's mother squealed, pulling the boys down, together, for a hug when they entered the porch, quickly pulling back to peek over their shoulders where the others stood, "And you've finally brought over your friends!" 

" _Mamá_ , you already know Hunk and Pidge," au Lance chided gently, "And the guy with the white hair, that's Shiro, Keith's best friend. He's the one that's there sometimes when we Skype with you."

"It's wonderful to meet you, Shiro," au Mrs. McClain said, extending her hand, paying no mind to Shiro's prosthetic arm, not even looking at it curiously.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, ma'am. Lance talks about you a lot. All good things, though," au Shiro laughs, shaking her hand. 

"I would hope so," Mrs. McClain laughed, "Please, call me Elena, dear."

Then, au Mrs. McClain, Elena, noticed the amount of bags they were holding and quickly ushered them inside. 

***

"Lance?" Allura asked hesitantly, seeing the expression on Lance's face, "Are you sure you want to go through with this one? We can take you back the Castle."

"N-No," Lance responded shakily, "I think I need this, Allura."

Keith watched Lance worriedly, but shook his head after a few seconds. He knew Lance was strong enough to go through this. He knew Lance would go through with it all in the name of closure. 

But surely, he couldn't be the only one hoping that closure wouldn't be this painful. Especially for their bright, joyful blue Paladin. 

***

When they went inside the warm house, it was bustling with movement. Five persons sat on the large couch watching TV, yelling in a cacophony of Spanish and English. 

Footsteps bounded down the stairs, and two small children, a boy and girl, ran into the foyer, by passing Elena and wrapping their arms around au Lance's legs, calling excitedly, " _T_ _ío_ Lance, you're home!"

Au Lance stooped to their level and ruffled their brown hair with both hands. 

 _"Nico, Maria, como estas?"_ He grinned, his Spanish rolling off his tongue nicely, "I've missed you rugrats!"

"We missed you too," Maria said, green eyes shining as she pulled away and gasped at the person next to Lance, "You brought along  _tío_ Keef!"

Au Keith crossed his arms across his chest, huffing at au Lance, but smiling all the same.

"It's Keith, not Keef," he scowled, enunciating the _'th'_ sound in his name, "That horrible nickname will forever be your fault."

Elena chuckled and turned to face them. She told Nico and Maria, "Your  _papá_  is in the kitchen. Go help him while Lance and his friends settle and then they'll hang with you, okay?"

The children nodded, Maria pouting a bit, and walked off. 

"Where's Sofìa? How is Natalia?" au Lance asked. 

"Natalia's sleeping in their room. Sofìa is with her," Elena said, biting her lip. 

Au Lance nodded. 

"Anyways, uh, room assignments. Hunk, Shiro, you boys mind sharing a room?" Elena asked, rubbing her hands together. 

Au Hunk and au Shiro looked at each other before au Shiro shook his head, shrugging.

"No problem with us, Elena," au Hunk smiled, "We go to college, so sharing living space is nothing."

"Great. You guys take the third door on the left on the second floor, opposite Lance's room. There's a bathroom connected, as well as the main bathroom if you boys would prefer to use separate bathrooms," Elena said, "There are two beds in that room, too."

"Thank you," au Shiro replied, graciously. 

"Katie, you can stay with Allura on the third floor, as you usually do," Elena told au Pidge. 

" _Yess!_ Girl time!" She whooped, and the boys laughed. 

They took their various bags and went up the stairs. 

"Where," au Lance began, clearing his throat, "Where will Keith be staying?"

Elena narrowed her eyes at the boys, "Well, as Hunk said, you go to college, and while I may be old, I still know what happens in college."

Keith felt himself flushing a brighter red than his lion. College? Couple? His alternate self and alternate Lance were a thing, again??

 _"Mamá,"_ au Lance groaned, embarrassed. 

"So," Elena continued, "Jeremy and I have decided that you both can stay in Lance's room. BUT, remember Isabella and Jamie sleep in the rooms next to yours, Lance, so if I hear about _any_ funny business-"

"Elena!" It was au Keith that cut her off this time, his face almost firetruck red, "Lance and I would never disrespect you or your home like that!"

"Right answer, Keith. I know you wouldn't, but my son, I can never tell with him," Elena shook her head, laughing, "But I was just teasing you, though, so no need to worry."

"Mom," au Lance whined, covering his face in embarrassment this time.

Elena pat au Lance's shoulder. 

"Go settle in, then come down for dinner. The whole family's almost here," Elena said, softly this time, as if she knew something au Keith didn't. 

Lance had a small smile on his face as he watched his alternate self interact with his alternate family that seemed to be the same as his real one; his mother, Elena, his nieces and nephew, Nico, Maria and Sofìa, along with his father, Isabella and Jamie, were all there so far. Hopefully the rest of his family would be the same. It gave him some comfort to know that in another life, he was safe with the people who meant the world to him. Even if he was the Mullet's stupid boyfriend. 

The au Paladins spent the rest of the day settling in, and when the sun set, everyone sat down at the hand-built table in the dining room, where a wide array of food was laid out. The women were holding kitchen utensils to distribute the food in their hands, looking as though they were ready to do damage control and the men were about to create the damage.

Dinner was not a quiet event. Au Lance began introducing Shiro to everyone, who were either having group discussions, or paired discussions. English was the dominant language, but you could still hear some Spanish exclamation or phrase, and the hints of an accent mingled within the words. It was truly beautiful.

Keith never sat at a table where there were so much positive vibes. He never had relatives to crack inside jokes, or jokes in general, with him. He never sat at a table where there were so much people just _enjoying_ a hot meal, prepared by the ones they cared about the most. A dull ache ricocheted through him. He was all alone in this world.

"Shiro, the guy sitting two chairs down from you is my older brother, Leo. That's his wife, Natalia, next to him and she's holding Sofía, their daughter. She's three months old. Nico and Maria are their children too. The miserable old guy at the head of the table, that's my dad, Jeremy," Au Lance nodded at the older man, who was tanned, had black hair and blue eyes, and sat next to Elena. He stuck his tongue out at au Lance when he noticed his eyes on him. 

Keith then understood. It seemed as though Lance was only half-latino. 

"On his left is my younger brother, Jamie. Next to him are my sisters Camila and Isabella," Au Lance gestured at each person as he said their name, "And, next to them is my aunt Theresa and next to her is my aunt Susanna. Her wife, Zaphrina, and my older sister Allura will be here in a while."

As soon as that was said, the front door opened. 

"Sorry we're late everybody," a high pitched, feminine voice said, then the door slammed shut again, "New Year's Eve eve traffic was killer."

Hunk muttered, "Oh oh," as Lance paled.

"I bring Keith home for New Year's Eve?" he whispers, eyes widening, paling rapidly.

"What goes on on New Year's Eve?" Keith blurts, confused. 

Lance only shook his head, disregarding the question. 

"Zaphrina, your and Susanna's room is on the left of Allura's. You guys go drop off your stuff then come down to dinner. Lance brought friends over," Elena said. 

When they came back to dinner, Zaphrina sat net to her wife, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. 

Au Allura looked around for a place to sit, but the only available one was next to au Shiro so au Lance called, "Allura! Over here!"

When she turned in their direction, au Shiro's ears flushed delicately. She wore a black shorts together with a dark red lacey cami. Her curly hair was dyed silver-white at the roots and all the way down her back, her made up face done to perfection. Most family members missed his eyes quickly fluttering down to her plump red lips before focusing elsewhere, but au Lance and Hunk caught it and exchanged sly grins. 

"Allura, Zaphrina, this is Keith's best friend Shiro," au Lance introduced, still grinning to himself. 

It was hard to miss the immediate sparks flying between au Allura and au Shiro. 

"I now realized, you've brought Keith home for the New Year's weekend," Susanna pointed out, clearing her throat and speaking rather loudly, "Do you intend to carry out the family tradition, little nephew?"

The entire table suddenly quieted, thirteen pairs of eyes focusing their attention on the couple. Au Lance, who's cheeks bloomed dusty rose, didn't make eye contact with anyone, biting his lip fiercely.

Zaphrina gasped, taking pity on the boys while gently whacking Susanna on the shoulder, "You can't just ask that, love!"

Jeremy joined the conversation, winking at au Lance. 

"He knows how important this tradition is to us," he said, "Besides, Elena and I have been taking bets."

"You _WHAT?!_ " au Lance squeaked, while au Keith bit his lip, asking, "What tradition?"

Au Hunk just smiled at both boys, knowingly. 

"What if he's just trolling us all?" The one au Lance introduced as Jamie snorted. 

"Oh, just let the boys be," Elena said, rescuing them, "You just wait till it's your turn, Jamie. We'll see who's laughing then, _mijo._ "

Jamie didn't say a word after that, and both Keiths were still baffled. 

When dinner was over, au Lance and au Allura were in charge of cleaning the dishes. 

It was pretty hilarious when they entered the kitchen and au Allura hissed, "You mean to tell me you - _you_ \- are friends with _the_ Takashi Shirogane?! He's Instagram's hottest male model of 2017! He's a legend; he trended for weeks! He's the one who's hair inspired my own 'do, for Pete's sake!"

"Oh, so you do have a thing for him!" Au Lance's eyes lit up, like a child on Christmas morning, as he pointed to au Allura accusingly, "I knew it!"

"Shut up!" She hit him with a dish rag that was in one hand, fanning her pink face with the other as her alternate brother grinned as if he'd struck gold.

Yeah, it _totally_ wasn't his mission to set his boyfriend's lonely best friend up with his sister.

At around eleven o'clock, everyone began dispersing to their designated rooms, all of them equally as tired. 

"What are we supposed to do now?" Shiro mumbled, crossing his arms, "Just wait here till we move onto a new day?"

Slav's voice cut into their headsets, "Hold tight, Paladins. The night shouldn't last more than one varga."

"I don't know about you all," Lance said, flopping onto the couch, "But I'm gonna chill."

Surprising everyone, Allura shrugged and flopped down beside Lance.

It was about fifty minutes into the hour when Elena came downstairs and went into the kitchen, putting on the lights.

They all heard glassware rattling.

"She usually gets up at four to start to prepare for the day," Lance explained.

A few minutes later, au Keith walked into the kitchen, and the paladins' scene shifted; they were in the kitchen, too.

"Elena," au Keith was saying, his cheeks red, "I didn't know you were up this early."

"I usually am," the Cuban woman hummed, gesturing for au Keith to sit, "Somebody has to feed the family."

Au Keith pulled out a chair from the small breakfast table in the kitchen and Elena took out another teacup.

"Coffee or hot chocolate?" She asked au Keith.

"Coffee, black," au Keith replied, "Here, let me help you with that. I don't want to be intruding on you any more than I already am."

"Nonsense. You're not bothering me," Elena waved, "Now, sit down and tell me what's on your mind. Why are you up this early, _chiquito?_ "

"Nothing's on my mind, really," au Keith said, eyes following Elena as she moved around .

Elena frowned, giving au Keith a motherly look.

Keith scoffed softly. He'd never gotten one of those looks before. Granted, he didn't have anyone to look at him like that, but still. It would have been nice to have someone to talk to like that, even if it was Lance's mother, and his alternate self just seemed to take it for granted. Shiro looked at him with a small frown.

"It's Lance, isn't it?" Elena asked, "Has he been treating you right ?"

"No, no, no, it's not him," au Keith stumbled over his words, biting his lip to hide a small smile, the slight red colour on his cheeks going deeper, "He treats me like I'm his whole world."

"Good. I know I raised the boy right," Elena said, a small smile gracing her face, "But you still haven't told me about what's on your mind. Keith, I may be Lance's mom, but I know what you've been through, and I promise, you can tell me anything. I don't know what the future looks like for the both of you, but that doesn't mean I'll won't be here for you if you ever want to talk about something, even something as simple as the weather."

"It's nothing really," au Keith tried again, but gave up after Elena narrowed her eyes at him.

"I visited my parents' graves before we came," au Keith said, as Elena sat, "And I had a nightmare, so I guess I'm overthinking a bit."

"Oh," Elena gave him a small, sad smile, "I'm so sorry you had to loose them at such a young age."

Keith couldn't believe what he was hearing. Loose his parents? Hah. His mother and father had _abandoned_ him. They left him and never looked back.

"Hey," Lance said, putting his hand on Keith's shoulder. It was only then that he noticed his hands were clenched into tight fists at his sides and his jaw was clenched.

Keith relaxed at Lance's touch, his anger dousing just a bit.

"You don't have to listen to this if you don't want to," Lance told him, patiently.

"My parents didn't die," he hissed to Lance quietly, "They left me."

"Remember," Lance said in that same patient voice, "This is an alternate universe. Anything can happen."

As he said that, he felt Lance's hand fall to his side, threading his fingers with Keith's, locking them tightly together, "You have us. We're each other's family."

Keith relaxed even further, focusing his attention back to his alternate self.

"And a gust of wind blew. I felt like in that moment, everything was right," au Keith was telling Elena, "And I felt like something was saying, 'you're where you're meant to be.'"

"Maybe it was your parents, maybe that's their way of letting you know they're with you and they're happy for you," Elena sipped her coffee, "But what are you overthinking?"

"It's just that this is our last year of college. Elena, our last year. After this, Lance will officially be a pilot. I'll be an engineer. We'll be working adults... We'll probably officially move in together. And I'm afraid. What if we do and Lance does something I don't like, or the other way around. How are we going to manage a relationship when Lance will be all over the world, meeting new people almost every few weeks," au Keith rushed out, "What if he finds someone better than me? Or someone who doesn't have as much emotional baggage as me? _I don't think I can handle loosing him, Elena_."

"Okay," Elena placed her arm on top of au Keith's hand, squeezing, "It's normal to be insecure in a relationship, Keith. No relationship is ever sunshine and rainbows. Have you talked to Lance about your feelings?"

"I-I'm afraid," au Keith's voice quavered, as if saying this aloud made it true.

"You need to talk to him,  _chiquito,_ " Elena said, biting her lip, "What if he has a completely different thought pattern? What if he thinks everything is okay between you two? I know it scares you, but I think this is something you boys need to talk about."

" _Cielo?_ " au Lance interrupted as he came into the kitchen, yawning tiredly, "What are you doing out of bed?"

"Nothing...I, uh, had another nightmare," au Keith said quietly.

"Same one?" au Lance asked, a bit more awake this time.

"Y-yeah," au Keith said.

"Oh, _cielo_ ," au Lance said, embracing him, resting his chin on au Keith's head.

"Guys," Shiro said, "I think this is way to intimate for us to be seeing."

"Hey Lance, what is the alternate Lance calling Keith?" Pidge asked, purely out of curiosity.

"Nothing important," Lance snapped, blushing, his whole face on fire. 

"It's an endearment, Pidge," Hunk muttered, smirking slightly, "I never thought I'd see the day."

"Keith, listen," au Lance said, "I know that since you've gotten here, everyone's been bugging you about the tradition. And you have no idea what we're talking about."

"I don't," au Keith agreed, noting that Elena had easily slipped out the kitchen. 

"I uh," au Lance started, pausing nervously, "I just want you to know that I love you very much."

Au Keith laughed, albeit awkwardly, blushing, "Yeah, I know you do. You tell me every day."

That was when Pidge cut in with a soft, "Awww!"

"Okay, what even is this?" Lance demanded.

Keith was looking at the whole scene with a stupefied expression on his face. 

"Oh God, is Lance about to do what I think he's about to do?" Hunk laughed. 

Shiro was watching intensely, a small flush of disbelief on his cheeks, and Allura was laughing at him.

Au Keith stood up and placed his cup in the sink, washing, drying and putting it away. As if he was too lazy to go back to the table, he jumped atop the kitchen counter.

"Comfortable?" au Lance demanded, an uneasy smirk on his face. 

"Very. Now spill, I know something's bugging you. You're acting more weird than usual," au Keith huffed out, looking at his boyfriend. 

"Nothing, I'm fine," au Lance said, fiddling with the short sleeve of his blue top. 

"Lance," au Keith whined, "I thought you said won't lie--"

"Oh for fuck's sake," au Lance growled under his breath, more in frustration of himself self, most likely, "Marry me, Keith."

"What?" au Keith scoffed in disbelief. 

"Marry me," au Lance said, more firmly. 

"Oh, I knew it!" Hunk laughed in delight.

"Oh, God," Lance buried his head in his hands.

"Okay, well at least we know that not all the Lance's and Keith's try to kill each other," Shiro smirked.

"I know that I'm usually a romantic, and this isn't my style," au Lance continued, scratching the back of his neck, and everyone quieted down, "But, ya know, this is the family tradition. When any one of our family members bring home their significant other for New Year's, we usually propose. So no, this is not a joke."

"Lance," au Keith looked stunned, "You don't even have-"

He was cut off by au Lance who stuck his hand in the pocket of his pyjama pants, pulling out something shiny, saying, "A ring?"

The ring was a delicate, silver band, with small stones in the center, glinting in the palm of au Lance's hand.

" _Ae-in,_ when did you get the time to get this?" au Keith gasped softly.

Keith could just stare at at the scene before him. Seeing himself so happy, so in love, speaking his native language. He never knew that he could be so envious of himself. 

"That's for me to know," au Lance smiled, just as softly, in his direction, "I, uh, noticed you weren't in bed, so I picked it up because I knew this is the only chance I'll have with you alone before my family members steal you away."

"Lance, I," au Keith looked down at his feet, "This is a big decision."

"I know," au Lance replied, tilting au Keith's chin up with his index finger, forcing au Keith to look into his eyes, to see the clear sincerity shining through, "But hey, we don't have to get married right away, we can just officially move in together for now. We can get married next year, after we graduate. Then, we find jobs and we can save enough to buy our own house. Think about it, a little mailbox on our front yard that says the Kogane-McClain's or the McClain-Kogane's. Anyone you want. We'll spend a few years with each other, then we'll adopt kids. A little boy you can turn into your own personal knife collecting little demon and a little princess who we can both spoil and who I can teach to be a drama queen."

"Lance," au Keith whispered, "You've got it all figured out, haven't you?"

"I do," au Lance said, caressing au Keith's cheek, "I even told your parents."

Tears left au Keith's eyes at Lance's confession. 

"You did all of this," he whispered, "For me?"

"I did," au Lance said, "Because you're my everything, Akira Kogane, and I love you more than starlight."

 _Akira_. He must have truly loved Lance to tell him his full name, Keith thought, catching the look of shock on Shiro's face.

"How did you know?" au Keith asked, "I mean, aren't you scared?"

"I was," au Lance said, flushing red, "I was scared that one day you'll decide that that I'm not worth it and you'll leave. I mean, we dated for a while, and I knew I loved you, but after we spent the night together on your birthday, and I woke up next to you, I realized some things. I realized that I wouldn't mind waking up to you every single day. I wouldn't mind calling you my husband in the future. The clearer these things became, I began to feel less afraid. So I started planning, and I figured I'd bring you home for New Year's. I mean, I know we'll have our ups and downs, but it doesn't matter, because it's _us_. We always find our way back to one another. We never stay mad at each other, so I think that we will be alright."

It was as if au Lance had placed a warm, comfortable blanket around au Keith. He visibly relaxed, as if au Lance's words had eased all of his fears.

"That's more like the romantic Lance I know," au Keith said, sniffing, entwining his arms around au Lance's shoulders, "I mean, if I had one person to spend the rest of my life with, if I had one person to go through the ups and downs with me, it would be you," au Keith kissed au Lance softly, lovingly, "It would always be you. Lance, no matter how much I try to push you away, and despite all the shit I know I put us through sometimes, shit that can break us, it's never stopped you from loving me."

"So does that mean you'll marry me?" au Lance laughed a bit, sniffing himself.

"I will," au Keith laughed gently, kissing Lance once more, "I'll marry you."

Shaky fingers slipped the ring onto au Keith's finger.

"Just so you know, the day you walked through our front door three years ago, you became a McClain," au Lance laughed, smirking, "But I'm glad to finally make it official."

 Au Keith snorted and smacked au Lance on the shoulder gently, admiring the ring in the sunlight, with a small, contented smile on his face.

***

The next day, which was New Year's Eve, after breakfast, Elena, Theresa and Susanna sent everyone out into the blueberry orchard with a picnic lunch as they gave the house a "proper Cuban cleaning". They'd learnt that this was a tradition for the three sisters, as well as Lance's grandmother, but apparently, for Chistmas, the sisters got her and her husband a vacation package to visit Cuba. They hadn't been there since they migrated and they didn't want to waste the opportunity (or the money spent on it). 

The garage was opened up and bikes were taken down. The ladies opted to take a stroll with Natalia and Sofìa instead of biking, and the boys agreed to meet them on the other end of the orchard to have lunch.

Jeremy took Maria and Nico to pick berries for Elena's blueberry pie.

That meant that the bikes were entrusted to Leo, au Shiro (who was still making eyes at Allura, _eww_ ), Jamie, au Hunk, au Keith and au Lance. 

"Race you guys to the end of the orchard?" au Lance suggested when they stepped onto to the dirt trail around the orchard. 

Au Keith grinned maliciously, winking at au Lance, "You're on. Watch me own this, _babe_."

Au Lance looked stunned as he watched au Keith gracefully get onto the bike. In any reality, Keith could never resist a challenge. 

Jamie, who was already mounted onto his own bike, gave a wolf whistle and laughed, "Kick his ass, Keith."

Au Lance snapped out of his daze and smacked his brother on the head, hissing, "Language."

Jamie rolled his eyes and said, "Three, two, one, go!"

And the cheaters, Jaime and au Keith, rode off, not turning back once. 

Au Lance ended up winning the race, though, and au Keith covered his face with his hands, both his _left_ and right hands, groaning at his gloating as he sat next to au Pidge on the picnic blanket. The sunlight caught his ring, causing it to glint. Pidge's eyes caught the small glimmer.

"No. Way." au Pidge said.

"Oh my God!" au Allura squealed, "Wait till the rest of the ladies see this!"

"He put a ring on it," au Pidge laughed and stood up to admire au Keith's ring, bouncing on her feet excitedly, pointing at a blushing Lance, "Mother of Quiznaks! Lance finally put a ring on it!"

That was the last thing Keith remembered seeing before feeling the telltale pull in his stomach, and the scene around him began disappearing.

 

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Comments and Kudos make my day. If y'all make it all the way through this word garbage and end up down here, then dude, you rock.
> 
> The 'I love you more than starlight' quote is from Lady Midnight, written by Cassandra Clare.


End file.
